a street sign and a pole with lights
Photograph ©2021 by Brian Cohen.

Answers to Past Articles — Part 18: On the Road Again

In past articles in which your participation was not only requested but also helpful and humorous, I did not give the answers to questions which I have posed to you; so this article is the eighteenth of a series to do just that — along with links to the aforementioned articles…

Answers to Past Articles — Part 18: On the Road Again

…and the links are embedded in the titles of each section as well as within the sections themselves; so please click on the links in each section to take you to the original article — and this edition is entirely comprised of photographs which were contributed by readers of The Gate.

The Favorite Answer will usually be the correct answer by a reader of The Gate — along with a Favorite Comment from the same article which I found to be funny or informative.

What is Wrong With This Photograph? Part 86

a yellow road sign with arrows pointing to the left
Photograph ©2021 by Brian Cohen.

The sign indicates that the divided highway ends — but looking ahead, the highway divides.

Perhaps this sign was installed onto the pole upside down?

Favorite answer by Jim Lovejoy: “It’s upside down. The picture indicates the end of a section of roadway with a physical barrier between directions. Turned upside down it would show the start of a section.”

Favorite comment by Gary Steiger – FreeFrequentFlyerMiles.com: “Is that airplane using the highway as a runway?”

What is Wrong With This Photograph? Part 87

a road sign on a highway
Photograph ©2021 by Kyle Lawson for Staten Island Advance.

The photograph shown above was taken from the center westbound lane of Interstate 278 — which is also known as the Staten Island Expressway — in the borough of Staten Island in New York by Kyle Lawson for Staten Island Advance. Goethals is the name of the bridge — not Geothals.

a road sign on a highway
Source: Google Maps.

Oddly, the overhead highway sign which this one recently replaced was indeed spelled correctly. The image shown above from Google Maps is dated October 2019. I am not sure as to the reasons why the sign was replaced at all; but it should have already been replaced again by the time you read this article — at the expense of the contractor, from what I understand.

Favorite answer by Mark: “The name of the bridge is spelled incorrectly–the name it Goethals, not Geothals.”

Favorite comment by Bruce: “Exit 7 is in 1/4 mile yet Exit 5 is 1 mile away? Last I checked 7-5 = 2 miles.”

What is Wrong With This Photograph? Part 88

a sign next to a stone wall
Photograph ©2020 by Brian Cohen.

Among the photographs which I took of what was once known as the Dick Hunter Memorial Bridge in Marietta in Georgia for the article 10 Suggestive Names of Real Locations Worldwide — Part 3: Male Appendage Version — thankfully, the name of the railroad overpass had since been changed to the Mayor Richard Hunter Memorial Bridge — was the photograph shown above.

How can two highways going in what appears to be in opposite directions both be going west?

Actually, Georgia State Highway 360 and Georgia State Highway 120 do both eventually head west and run parallel to each other — but believe it or not, they actually meet again approximately 14.5 miles west of the signs; and they bizarrely run concurrent for approximately 1.3 miles as they head south before Georgia State Highway 360 simply ends and Georgia State Highway 120 continues west again.

Zoom out on the interactive map above and see for yourself. The pinned location is near where the photograph was taken.

Favorite answer by Rich: “You might think it’s strange that you turn left to go west on Highway 360 and right to go west on Highway 120, and think “How can two opposite turns both take me west?” But this often happens, because the direction on the sign is the general, eventual direction of the highway, not the compass heading immediately after the turn. At this point (roughly 33.94749 north, 84.54912 west), we’re facing west. We can turn left onto Highway 360, which is headed south immediately after the turn and then turns west, or right onto Highway 120, which is headed north immediately after the turn and then turns west.

“Similarly, there’s a stretch of several miles of highway in Berkeley, California that is simultaneously part of Interstate 580 West and Interstate 80 East. That stretch of road is headed mostly north, and forks into Interstate 580, which heads west, and Interstate 80, which heads east.”

Favorite comment by derek: “What is wrong is that the sign does not clearly indicate what it is trying to convey. Turn right into a wall. Right turn only for highway 120 west or that and highway 5 north. How about the 3 highways in opposite directions, like highway 5 south.

“What is also wrong, or more precisely, bad judgment is Brian’s decision not to get vaccinated. I hope he does not suffer bad outcomes nor cause others to suffer bad outcomes. Even if a vaccine is 95% effective and 100% of people get it, that would mean 15 million Americans are not covered. (Belgium only has 11M people and already has over 23,000 dead from Covid as well as countless others with long term health problems from Covid-19). I wish Brian the best (and hope he changes his mind by early summer)”

Note from Brian: I do appreciate the thoughts, derek. Thank you.

What is Wrong With This Photograph? Part 89

a street sign and a pole with lights
Photograph ©2021 by Brian Cohen.

The lights at an interchange of an Interstate highway were near the ground; the lights were on in braod daylight; and for the pièce de résistance, a nearby sign has Lights On When Raining printed on it — which has a completely different meaning than what appears in the photograph.

a road with cars and signs
Photograph ©2021 by Brian Cohen.

The bottom photograph gives more of a context of how the other lights — which are high above the highway and are not illuminated — are as compared to the one on the right, which appears to need the services of a hospital.

Favorite answer by derek: “The lights are on but it is not dark or rainy.”

Favorite comment by NB_ga: “The day the lights went down in Georgia?”

What is Wrong With This Photograph? Part 90

a red car on a road
Photograph ©2021 by Brian Cohen.

As I was on my way back from McCaysville in Georgia to sample a pastrami sandwich at Katz’s New York Deli — and then afterwards have fun with the state line between Georgia and Tennessee — I had to stop to take both the photograph shown above and below.

cars on a road with a white truck and a blue car
Photograph ©2021 by Brian Cohen.

The road which is shown in the photographs was recently repaved as a new housing and retail development was under construction. To be honest, I am not sure myself as to what is wrong, as a Do Not Enter sign makes no sense when one side of the road is clearly meant to be used. The only thing I can figure out is that the Do Not Enter sign is for motorists who want to turn left from the road in the foreground — but that road does not have a No Left Turn sign, which would be more logical.

Vehicles used to be able to turn left onto this road prior to it being repaved. That is the best answer which I could conjure for this bizarre situation.

Favorite answer by derek: “Additional camera angles are necessary for me to make a definitive conclusion.

“I believe the “do not enter” sign has been placed in a rotated position. In other words, traffic must turn right and not drive straight ahead.

“There is more in error. The right turn appears to be intended because there is a shared median left turn lane upon turning right. Furthermore, the painted lanes are painted in error. If there was a forced right turn, the left edge of the lane should at least have a dotted white line that curves to the right if not a full yellow (un-dotted) line.”

Favorite comment by Dky: “It means it was editing.”

Access to Past Articles in the What is Wrong With This Photograph? Series

You can refer to this definitive list of past articles of the What is Wrong With This Photograph? series of articles — which also includes articles which reveal the answers — and that list will be continuously updated as additional articles are written and posted here at The Gate. This is to ensure that future articles in this series are not encumbered with a long list of links — especially when viewing and reading them from a portable electronic device.

This will hopefully be considered a positive step towards the reading experience of The Gate on portable electronic devices. Your constructive input as a reader of The Gate is always appreciated.

Summary

You are encouraged to submit photographs of your own for this feature at The Gate. When you do, please let me know if you want to have photography credit attributed to you — as well as what is the photograph; and when and where it was taken. If your photograph is selected, it will be featured in a future article here at The Gate.

Please continue submitting your photographs!

Except where noted, all photographs ©2020 and ©2021 by Brian Cohen.

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